Sebastia, Nablus

In ancient times, Sebastia was known as Shomron ({{langx|he|שומרון|translit=Šomron}}) which translates into "watch" or "watchman" in English.{{Cite book |last=Tappy |first=Ron E. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004369665 |title=The Archaeology of Israelite Samaria. Volume 1: Early Iron Age through the Ninth Century BCE |date=1992-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-36966-5 |doi=10.1163/9789004369665}} The city bearing the ancient Hebrew name of Shomron later gave its name to the central region of the Land of Israel, surrounding the city of Shechem (modern-day Nablus).{{Cite web |title=Samaria {{!}} historical region, Palestine {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Samaria-historical-region-Palestine |access-date=2022-02-26 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} In Greek, Shomron became known as Samaria.

According to first-century historian Josephus, Herod the Great renamed the city Sebastia in honor of the Roman emperor Augustus.Josephus, Antiquities (Book xv, chapter 246). The Greek sebastos, "venerable", is a translation of the Latin epithet augustus.{{cite web |title=Sebastian |url=http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=Sebastian |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary}} The modern village name preserves the Roman-period name of Sebaste.

Between 880-723/22 BCE, Samaria was the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom of Israel, also known as Samaria after its long-time capital.Zertal, 2004, pp. 461- [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt-IvRhCEyYC&pg=PA463 463]-464. Re-accessed 4 Oct 2023. Under the four centuries long Mesopotamian rule (723/22-322 BCE), it reached a golden age, which was again the case under King Herod (r. 37-4 BCE).

On the tell (archaeological mound), archaeologists uncovered various larger structures and smaller finds such as pottery sherds, from the first settlement, dating to the Early Bronze Age, from the Israelite Iron Age city, and the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods.Dauphin, 1998, pp. 766–7 At the modern village site of Sebastiyeh near the tell, pottery findings were dated to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, but also to the Early Muslim, medieval (Crusader, Ayyubid, etc.), Ottoman and modern periods.

{{Main|Samaria (ancient city)}}

File:Furniture_Inlays,_9th-8th_Century_BC_(43218922881).jpg]]

In the 9th and the 8th centuries BCE, Samaria was capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel.{{Citation|last=Pummer|first=Reinhard|title=Samaria|date=2019|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah11208.pub2|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|pages=1–3|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah11208.pub2|isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6|s2cid=241784278|access-date=2021-12-22}} According to the Hebrew Bible, Omri, the sixth king of Israel (ruled 880s–870s BCE), purchased a hill owned by an individual (or clan) named Shemer for two talents of silver, and built its new capital on its broad summit, replacing Tirzah, Israel's second capital ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|16:24|KJV}}).Omri, king of the 10 tribes of Israel, built the city and settled his men in the Old City, in accordance with the account relayed in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 16:24). Compare Josephus, Antiquities (Book viii, chapter xii, verse 5)

According to some biblical scholars, the earliest reference to a settlement at this location may be the town of Shamir, which according to the Hebrew Bible was the home of the judge Tola in the 12th century BC ({{bibleverse|Judges|10:1-2|KJV}}).Boling, R.G. (1975). Judges: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. (Anchor Bible, Volume 6a), Page 185

Omri is thought to have granted the Arameans the right to "make streets in Samaria" as a sign of submission ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|20:34|KJV}}). This probably meant permission was granted to the Aramean merchants to carry on their trade in the city. This would imply the existence of a considerable Aramean population, who called it Shamerain.{{clarify|reason=Did the Arameans call THE CITY that way? Then replace it with the city.|date=October 2023}}Boulanger, Richard (1966). The Middle East (Hachette World Guides, Librarie Hachette, Paris), Page 643

In 720 BCE, Samaria fell to the Neo-Assyrian Empire following a three-year siege, bringing an end to the Kingdom of Israel. After the fall of the kingdom, Samaria became an administrative center under Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and Achaemenid (Persian) rule.

File:Sebastia-393.jpg

Many important archeological discoveries were made at Ancient Samaria. These included a royal Israelite palace dating from the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.{{Cite journal |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |date=2011-11-01 |title=Observations on the Layout of Iron Age Samaria |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/033443511x13099584885303 |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=194–207 |doi=10.1179/033443511x13099584885303 |issn=0334-4355 |s2cid=128814117}} 500 pieces of carved ivory were found there,{{Cite journal |last=Pienaar |first=D. N. |date=2008-12-01 |title=Symbolism in the Samaria ivories and architecture |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC111399 |journal=Acta Theologica |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=48–68 |hdl=10520/EJC111399}} which led some scholars to identify the structure with the "palace adorned with ivory" mentioned in the Bible ({{Bibleverse|1 Kings|22:39|KJV}}).

The Samaria Ostraca, a collection of 102 ostraca written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet were unearthed by George Andrew Reisner of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.[https://archive.org/stream/jstor-1507545/1507545#page/n1/mode/2up Hebrew Ostraca from Samaria, David G. Lyon, The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan., 1911), pp. 136–143], quote: "The script in which these ostraca are written is the Phoenician, which was widely current in antiquity. It is very different from the so-called square character, in which the existing Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible are written."Noegel, p.396{{better source needed|date=July 2022|reason=One source over 100 years old, the other of unclear origins}}

Samaria was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and was destroyed again by Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus in 108 BCE.[http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/sebaste.html Sebaste, Holy Land] Atlas Travel and Tourism Agency.

After Pompey rebuilt the town in the year 63 BCE, Hellenized Samaritans and the descendants of Macedonian soldiers inhabited the city.{{Cite book |last=Maclean Rogers |first=Guy |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1294393934 |title=For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-26256-8 |location=New Haven and London |pages=27 |oclc=1294393934}}

File:2016_WLM_-_OVEDC_-_Ancient_Roman_theatre_of_Sebastia_033.jpg at Sebastia]]

In 27 BCE, Samaria was rebuilt by Herod the Great, king of Judea.{{Cite journal|last=Segal|first=Arthur|date=2017|title=Samaria-Sebaste. Portrait of a polis in the Heart of Samaria|url=http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-119f836b-bb26-464d-9739-4c92bc2cf3fa|journal=Études et Travaux (Institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences)|language=EN|volume=XXX|issue=30|page=409|doi=10.12775/EtudTrav.30.019|issn=2084-6762|doi-access=free}} The new city was renamed "Sebastia" in honour of Roman emperor Augustus.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (Wars of the Jews) i.xxi.§2 Herod built two temples in the city: one, dedicated to Augustus, was constructed on an elevated platform in the city's acropolis; it was probably influenced by the Forum of Caesar in Rome. The second temple was dedicated to Kore. A large stadium was also built at the city, which was settled with 6000 veteran colonists, probably non-Jews who fought alongside Herod and helped him secure the throne. Later, in 7 BCE and after a trial at Berytus, Herod had his sons Alexander and Aristobulus IV transported to Sebastia and executed by being strangled for treason.Josephus Flavius Antiquities book 16 chapter 11 para 7

In late antiquity, the area of Sebastia was predominantly inhabited by Samaritans. Following the Samaritan revolts against the Byzantine Empire, it was settled by Christians.{{Cite book |last=Sivan |first=Hagith |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/170203843 |title=Palestine in Late Antiquity |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-928417-7 |location=Oxford; New York |pages=259 |oclc=170203843}}

Sebastia was the seat of a bishop in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is mentioned in the writings of Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229), the Syrian geographer, who situates it as part of the military district of Filastin in the province of Syria, located two days from that city, in the Nablus District. He also writes, "There are here the tombs of Zakariyyah and Yahya, his son, and of many other prophets and holy men."Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/523/mode/1up 523].

Saladin came to Sebastia during his expedition to central Palestine in 1184. Sebastia's bishop then released eighty Muslim captives to ensure the town's safety.Benjamin Z. Kedar. “Subjected Muslims of the Frankish Levant.” In James M. Powell, editor. Muslims under Latin Rule, 1100-1300. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985. p. 153

Niccolò da Poggibonsi, an Italian monk who visited Sebaste in 1347, wrote that the town was in ruins, and that only "some Saracens and a few Samaritans" lived there.{{Cite journal |last=Schur |first=Nathan |date=1986-07-01 |title=The Samaritans, as Described in Christian Itineraries (14th-18th Centuries) |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/peq.1986.118.2.144 |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=118 |issue=2 |pages=144–155 |doi=10.1179/peq.1986.118.2.144 |issn=0031-0328}}

File:Sebastia from the 1871-77 Palestine Exploration Fund Survey of Palestine.jpg]]

Sebastia was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Sami, part of Sanjak Nablus. It had a population of 20 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 5,500 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 129

The French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1870 and found it to have less than a thousand inhabitants.Guérin, 1875, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n213/mode/1up 188]–96

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Wadi al-Sha'ir.{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=David |title=Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine |publisher=Magnes Press |year=2004 |location=Jerusalem |pages=253}}

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Sebastia as "A large and flourishing village, of stone and mud houses, on the hill of the ancient Samaria. The position is a very fine one; the hill rises some 400 to 500 feet above the open valley on the north, and is isolated on all sides but the east, where a narrow saddle exists some 200 feet lower than the top of the hill. There is a flat plateau on the top, on the east end of which the village stands, the plateau extending westwards for over half a mile. A higher knoll rises from the plateau, west of the village, from which a fine view is obtained as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The whole hill consists of soft soil, and is terraced to the very top. On the north it is bare and white, with steep slopes, and a few olives; a sort of recess exists on this side, which is all plough-land, in which stand the lower columns. On the south a beautiful olive-grove, rising in terrace above terrace, completely covers the sides of the hill, and a small extent of open terraced-land, for growing barley, exists towards the west and at the top. The village itself is ill-built, and modern, with ruins of a Crusading church of Neby Yahyah (St. John the Baptist), towards the northwest.

File:Sabastiya 1942.jpg

A sarcophagus lies by the road on the north-east, but no rock-cut tombs have as yet been noticed on the hill, though possibly hidden beneath the present plough-land. There is a large cemetery of rock-cut tombs to the north, on the other side of the valley. The neighbourhood of Samaria is well supplied with water. In the months of July and August a stream was found (in 1872) in the valley south of the hill, coming from the spring (Ain Harun), which has a good supply of drinkable water, and a conduit leading from it to a small ruined mill. Vegetable gardens exist below the spring. To the east is a second spring called 'Ain Kefr Ruma, and the valley here also flows with water during part of the year, other springs existing further up it. The threshing-floors of the village are on the plateau north-west of the houses. The inhabitants are somewhat turbulent in character, and appear to be rich, possessing very good lands. There is a Greek Bishop, who is, however, non-resident; the majority of the inhabitants are Moslems, but some are Greek Christians."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/160/mode/1up 160]-161

Between 1915 and 1938, Sebastia was served by two stations on the Afula–Nablus–Tulkarm branch line of the Jezreel Valley railway: Mas'udiya station at the three-way junction, around 1.5 km to the west of the village, and Sabastiya station, around 1.5 km to the south.

The site was first excavated by the Harvard Expedition, initially directed by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1908 and then by George Andrew Reisner in 1909 and 1910; with the assistance of architect C.S. Fisher and D.G. Lyon.Reisner, G. A.; C.S. Fisher, and D.G. Lyon (1924). Harvard Excavations at Samaria, 1908–1910. (Vol 1: Text [http://www.etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/17084.pdf], Vol 2: Plans and Plates [http://www.etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/17085.pdf]), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press

File:Ruins of Samaria.jpg

File:Abbud27C.png]]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sabastia had a population of 572; 10 Christians and 562 Muslim.Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n26/mode/1up 24] This had increased in the 1931 census to 753; 2 Jews, 20 Christians and 731 Muslim, in a total of 191 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 64]

In the 1945 statistics Sebastia had a population of 1,020; 980 Muslims and 40 Christians,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p19.jpg 19] with 5,066 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Nablus/Page-061.jpg 61] Of this, 1,284 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,493 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Nablus/Page-107.jpg 107] while 90 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Nablus/Page-157.jpg 157]

The second expedition was known as the Joint Expedition, a consortium of 5 institutions directed by John Winter Crowfoot between 1931 and 1935; with the assistance of Kathleen Mary Kenyon, Eliezer Sukenik and G.M. Crowfoot. The leading institutions were the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the Hebrew University.Crowfoot, J. W.; G.M. Crowfoot (1938). Early Ivories from Samaria (Samaria-Sebaste. reports of the work of the Joint expedition in 1931–1933 and of the British expedition in 1935; no. 2). London: Palestine Exploration Fund, {{ISBN|0-9502279-0-0}}Crowfoot, J. W.; K.M. Kenyon and E.L. Sukenik (1942). The Buildings at Samaria (Samaria-Sebaste. Reports of the work of the joint expedition in 1931–1933 and of the British expedition in 1935; no.1). London: Palestine Exploration Fund.Crowfoot, J. W.; K.M. Kenyon and G.M. Crowfoot (1957). The Objects from Samaria (Samaria; Sebaste, reports of the work of the joint expedition in 1931;1933, and of the British expedition in 1935; no.3). London: Palestine Exploration Fund. In the 1960s small scale excavations directed by Fawzi Zayadine were carried out on behalf of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.Zayadine, F (1966). "Samaria-Sebaste: Clearance and Excavations (October 1965 – June 1967)". Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, vol. 12, pp. 77–80

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Sebastia came under Jordanian rule. In 1961, the population was 1,345.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p26.pdf 26]

File:Mas'udiya station.jpg

File:Palestine flag waves near the entrance of Tel Sebastia, 2022.jpg waves near the entrance of Tel Sebastia, 2022]]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Sebastia has been held under Israeli military occupation, while the Palestinian Authority is the civil authority of the area.

In modern-day Sebastia, the village's main mosque, known as the Nabi Yahya Mosque, stands within the remains of a Crusader cathedral that is believed to be built upon the tombs of the prophets Elisha, Obediah and John the Baptist beside the public square.{{cite journal|last1=Burgoyne|first1=Michael Hamilton|last2=Hawari|first2=M.|author-link2=Mahmoud Hawari|date=May 19, 2005|title=Bayt al-Hawwari, a hawsh House in Sabastiya|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17419792|journal=Levant|publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant, London|volume=37|pages=57–80|doi=10.1179/007589105790088913|doi-broken-date=7 February 2025 |s2cid=162363298 |access-date=2007-09-14}}Pringle, 1998, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=RA1-PA283 283] -290 There are also Roman royal tombs,{{cite web|author=United Nations Development Programme|author-link=United Nations Development Programme|date=23 April 2003|title=Spain helps restore Sebastia, Palestinian town with historic sites|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/EF654EC62868E90685256D120046A1B8|access-date=2007-09-14|publisher=United Nations}} and a few medieval and many Ottoman era buildings which survive in a good state of preservation. Jordanian archaeologists had also restored the Roman theater near the town.Netzer, E., The Augusteum at Samaria-Sebaste — A New Outlook (Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies), vol. 19 of the Michael Avi-Yonah Memorial Volume, Jerusalem 1987, pp. 97 - 105. See also article, [http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=33&Issue=4&ArticleID=8 Sebaste: Tribute to an Emperor].

In late 1976, the Israeli settlers movement, Gush Emunim, attempted to establish a settlement at the Ottoman train station. The Israeli government did not approve and the group that was removed from the site would later found the settlement of Elon Moreh adjacent to Nablus.{{Cite journal|last=Nadav Shelef|date=2009|title=Lords of the Land: The War over Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967–2007 (review)|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sho.0.0411|journal=Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies|volume=27|issue=4|pages=138–140|doi=10.1353/sho.0.0411|s2cid=144580732|issn=1534-5165}}

The ancient site of Sebastia is located just above the built-up area of the modern day village on the eastern slope of the hill.{{cite journal |last1=Burgoyne |first1=Michael Hamilton |last2=Hawari |first2=M. |author-link2=Mahmoud Hawari |date=May 19, 2005 |title=Bayt al-Hawwari, a hawsh House in Sabastiya |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17419792 |journal=Levant |publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant, London |volume=37 |pages=57–80 |doi=10.1179/007589105790088913 |doi-broken-date=7 February 2025 |s2cid=162363298 |access-date=2007-09-14}}

In 2024, the Israeli military occupied the site, wounding villagers and illegally seizing land at the summit of the tell and the town square in the process. According to residents, the Israeli military has increased incursions, arrests, and violent seizure of land at the site since October 7. In July, 19-year-old Fawzi Makhalfeh was killed by Israeli soldiers at the village, to what the Palestinian Authority described as an execution, and residence described as an act of terrorism.{{Cite web |author=Al Jazeera Staff |title=In Sebastia, Palestinians fear 'Judaisation' amid rising Israeli violence |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/6/8/in-sebastia-palestinians-fear-judaisation-amid-rising-israeli-violence |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Palestinians call for probe into Israeli killing of teenager |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/22/palestinians-call-for-probe-into-israeli-killing-of-teenager |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Israel's seizure of Sebastia symbolises its theft of Palestine's cultural sites |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-seizure-sebastia-symbolises-theft-palestine-heritage-sites |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}} In August, the Israeli military briefly seized the village, an act described as a routine occurrence by residents.{{Cite web |last=News |first=IMEMC |date=2024-08-27 |title=Soldiers Invade Archaeological Site In Sebastia |url=https://imemc.org/article/soldiers-invade-archaeological-site-in-sebastia/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |language=en-US}}

Some of Sebastia's residents trace their origins to Azzun Atma and the vicinity of Jerusalem.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 352

The Archdiocese of Sebastia is part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Theodosios (Hanna) has been the see's archbishop since 2005.{{cite web|title=A Rare Day for Orthodoxy in the Holy Land |author=Maria C. Khoury |publisher=Orthodox Christian News |date=2 January 2006 |access-date=2007-09-13 |url=https://hcef.org/1521-a-rare-day-for-orthodoxy-in-the-holy-land/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922175229/https://hcef.org/1521-a-rare-day-for-orthodoxy-in-the-holy-land/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 September 2019 }}

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Short chronology timeline
• List of modern names for biblical place names

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal |author=Anon |year=1908|url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1507225 |title=Excavations at Samaria |location=London | journal =Harvard Theological Review |volume=1 |issue=4| pages = 518–519 |doi=10.1017/s001781600000674x|s2cid=193255908 }}
• {{cite book| editor =Barron, J.B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1882|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=2}}
• {{cite book |last= Dauphin |first = C.|author-link= Claudine Dauphin | title = La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FC1mAAAAMAAJ |volume = III : Catalogue | series = BAR International Series 726 | year = 1998 | publisher = Archeopress | location = Oxford|language =fr|isbn= 0-860549-05-4}}
• {{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964|url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}
• {{cite book | last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah | title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Le Strange|first=G.|author-link=Guy Le Strange |year=1890|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft|location=London}}
• {{cite book| editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|title= The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre)| volume =II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC|first=D.|last=Pringle|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-39037-0}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Reisner|first1=G.A.|author-link1=George Andrew Reisner|year=1910|url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1507307 |title=The Harvard Expedition to Samaria Excavations of 1909 |location=London | journal =Harvard Theological Review |volume=3 |issue=2| pages = 248–263 |doi=10.1017/s0017816000006027|s2cid=163234112 }}
• {{cite book|last=Zertal|first=A.|author-link=Adam Zertal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt-IvRhCEyYC |title=The Manasseh Hill Country Survey|volume=1|location=Boston|publisher=BRILL|year=2004|isbn=9004137564}}

{{refend}}

• Tappy, R. E. (1992). The Archaeology of Israelite Samaria: Vol. I, Early Iron Age through the Ninth Century BCE. Harvard Semitic Studies 44. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
• Tappy, R. E. (2001). The Archaeology of Israelite Samaria: Vol. II, The Eighth Century BCE. Harvard Semitic Studies 50. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Sabastiya_1533/index.html Welcome To Sabastiya]
• [https://www.welcometopalestine.com/destinations/nablus/sebastiya/ Sebastiya], Welcome to Palestine
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8373 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.11.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/images/english/Sabastiya_ap_en.jpg Sabastiya, aerial photo], Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Sabastiya_n_EN.pdf Development Priorities and Needs in Sabastiya], ARIJ
• [http://www.sabastiya.org.ps/seng/ Municipality of Sabastiya - Nablus Governorate - Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105030141/http://www.sabastiya.org.ps/seng/ |date=2013-11-05 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140503192113/http://www.riwaq.org/2010/files/Throne_villages.pdf Throne villages], with Al Kayed Palace in Sabastiya, RIWAQ
• [https://www.biblewalks.com/samariacity Samaria (city)], biblewalks
• {{Wikisource-inline|list=
• {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Samaria|year=1905 |short=x |noicon=x}}
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Samaria |short=x |noicon=x}}
• {{Cite CE1913 |last=Vailhé |first=S. |wstitle=Samaria|short=x |noicon=x}}}}

{{Nablus Governorate}}

{{Roman colonies in ancient Levant}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bronze Age sites in Palestine

Category:Villages in the West Bank

Category:Throne villages

Category:Municipalities of Palestine

Category:Ruins in Palestine

Category:Populated places established in the 9th century BC

Category:Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)

Category:Omrides